Ola says it will use the funding to expand the number of drivers it uses and deepen its presence in India's ride-hailing market, which is reportedly worth $12bn.

This is also Ola's first major fund raising after it raised $500 million from investors in November 2015. Tencent, for example, has invested in similar start-ups to Ola such as Indonesian ride-hailing app Go-Jek.

As per the company's spokesperson, Ola is also preparing to making investments in a number of emerging technologies, including AI and machine learning.

Tencent's entry could help Ola counter the influence of its largest shareholder SoftBank. Flipkart leads the charts, having raised at least $2.8 billion in two separate tranches from SoftBank, Tencent, eBay and Microsoft, while Paytm raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank earlier this year.

Indian taxi company Meru Cabs has stepped up its legal challenge against local competitor Ola and USA rival Uber, alleging the firms are abusing their market position, and believes that planned investments in both by Japan's SoftBank underscore its view. It recently invested in Grab, Uber's rival in Singapore, and has a stake in Didi Chuxing in China.

Meru Cabs has filed four complaints with the Competition Commission of India against cab-hailing firms Ola and Uber for allegedly abusing their dominance in four cities by burning vast sums of investor funds to distort the market.

International Day of the Girl Child
The report outlined the difficulty in enforcing anti-child marriage laws because of community traditions and religious customs. October 11 marks the annual Day of the girl, which is about the empowerment of girls and creating equality for them.Wednesday, October 11, 2017